Cowboys 32 Titans 18
The Titans came in undefeated and even scored first but cracks in their armour were soon exposed by the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville last night.
It is the Titans' first loss in four rounds, while the Cowboys have two wins and two losses.
Preston Campbell did his best
to help overcome the absence of halfback Scott Prince but his opposite Johnathan Thurston commanded a better game and was rewarded with a late try between the posts.
The Cowboys had the better of possession (57 per cent) as well as field position.
They enacted a fast, flowing brand of football in sometimes teeming rain.
The hosts played the ball quickly, dominating the Titans in line breaks, tackle breaks and offloads, while the visitors were made to tackle hard.
A notable effort came from returning lock Ashley Harrison, who made 35 tackles.
The Titans' discipline also slipped towards the end, conceding seven penalties to the Cowboys' four.
The key period was the 15 minutes before halftime when the Cowboys crossed three times. Twice centre Willie Tonga was evasive on the left, while a bullocking run from lock Luke O'Donnell secured the other four points.
The Titans had their chances which saw second rower Mark Minichiello expose turnstile defence next to the posts twice - including the try which brought the Titans back into the contest in the 69th minute where he capitalised on some Campbell jinking and jiving that kept the ball alive and the Cowboys exhausted.
Gold Coast also narrowly missed another try to centre Joseph Tomane, who was halted by the lightest of ankle taps from a lunging Thurston which had him in touch with an open line ahead early on.
Cowboys fullback Shannon Gallant was fearless and showed plenty of pace, while Anthony Watts was dynamic off the bench early in the second spell.
He seized on a spilt Titans ball to further blunt the visitors' defence as North Queensland dominated field position and possession for several minutes which included Tonga's hat-trick.
That was only punctuated by some Titans' counter-attacking brilliance through to the other end of the park which finished in a Sam Tagataese try.
Cowboys 32 (W. Tonga 3, L. O'Donnell, J. Thurston tries; Thurston 6 goals), Titans 18 (M. Minichiello 2, S. Tagataese tries; M. Rogers 3 goals). Halftime: 18-6
